When the Eagles traded for Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and signed Nnamdi Asomugha last summer, it appeared to be a coup that would give the team the best cornerback rotation in football.
They seemed to be loaded at the position.
There was one glaring problem, however. None of those players could tackle, according to a study by ProFootballFocus.com examining the best and worst tackling cornerbacks last season.
Asomugha missed 12 of his 52 tackle attempts in 2011, a percentage that ranked him 100th out of 101 cornerbacks. He missed a tackle every 4.3 attempts, a number "bested" only by the Redskins' Kevin Barnes (3.9).
Rogers-Cromartie wasn't much better, ranking 98th on the list. He had seven misses in 32 attempts, missing a tackle every 4.6 attempts. Even Samuel could be found at the bottom of this list, ranking 91st with a 5.3 tackle efficiency.
Making matters worse, the Eagles allowed Dimitri Patterson -- ranked as the fourth-best tackler on this list -- to leave for the Browns after the 2010 season. Patterson played two years in Philadelphia, starting nine games in 2010.
Plenty of factors went into the failure of the "Dream Team," but the collective whiffing of its vaunted secondary obviously played a role.
